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Special Report: CMGI jumps into the fray

Published on December 20, 1999.

One could argue that 1999 was the Year of CMGI. Once a college-market direct-response company, CMGI, headed by Chairman-CEO David Wetherell, now claims nearly 50 Web-related companies, including those in which it holds a majority ownership or has invested in via its venture-capital affiliate, @Ventures.

Despite CMGI's high profile, key competitor DoubleClick remains unfazed. "One of us will be more successful than the other and I think we have a big lead," says Jeff Epstein, exec VP-mergers and acquisitions at DoubleClick. Still, CMGI shows no signs of slowing down in its quest to dominate the Internet market.